Bloomfield Road bridge to reopen Monday

Cape Girardeau city officials plan to open the new Bloomfield Road bridge to traffic after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday.

The $535,211 project replaced an aging, narrow span across Ramsey Branch, west of Interstate 55. The new span is 36 feet wide with curbs and a sidewalk. The old span was 22 feet wide.

Motorists have traveled on a temporary gravel road across a private field to detour around the closed road since early January. The detour empties traffic onto Wolverine Road, which connects to new Highway 74 near where it ends west of I-55.

"The project went well and was completed as quickly as possible," said city manager Doug Leslie. "We appreciate the citizens' patience during construction."

The city plans to keep the temporary gravel road in place should it be needed when the city widens Bloomfield Road on either side of the bridge, from Siemers Drive to Stonebridge Drive, Leslie said.

The Missouri Department of Transportation paid 80 percent of the cost of the bridge replacement project. The city paid the other 20 percent.

City officials broke ground on the project in early December, but busy Bloomfield Road wasn't closed to traffic at the creek until a temporary road was constructed and completed in early January.

Penzel Construction of Jackson, which replaced the old bridge, also constructed the half-mile detour road through a stand of trees and a field.

The new bridge replaces a span whose weakened foundation worried state highway officials and prompted the city council last July to reduce the load limit on the bridge.